Various methods and systems for the sale and use of prepaid telephone calls are well known in the telecommunications industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,275, incorporated herein by reference, describes the implementation and operation of a telephone system that allows for prepayment of telephone calls, wherein credit information and a special code for a specific account are stored in memory in special exchanges, and wherein the amount of prepaid minutes in that specific account are debited as a call, made using that special code, progresses. Such systems are well known in the telecommunications industry, and a detailed description is not provided herein. Special codes are typically referred to as Personal Identification Numbers, or PINs.
It is to be understood that the special code, or PIN, which enables an end user to access a specific account can be provided in various forms, such as on a label or a phone card. For example, a phone card company sells a plurality of phone cards with distinct PINs on each of the phone cards to a phone card client, or middleman, such as a retailer, a vending machine operator, a promotional advertiser, etc. These phone cards are then typically re-sold at retail, sold as collectibles, or given away as promotional items, by the phone card client to an end user.
Each PIN printed on each individual phone card corresponds to a specific account that is credited with a predetermined number of telephone call units, such as minutes. In other words, in a preferred embodiment, each PIN is linked to a specific number of minutes of "talk time."
An end user purchases or receives a phone card from one of these phone card clients. To place a call, the end user typically calls a special phone number, and then enters the PIN along with the phone number the end user is trying to reach. The number of units remaining in a specific account is debited by the number of units spent by the end user on telephone calls.
However, there is a significant drawback for phone card clients with the way that phone cards are currently being sold. The drawback with the currently available phone cards is that phone card clients that want to sell phone cards through retail channels, or distribute them through promotional giveaways, must prepay the phone card company in advance for all of the phone card units received. The units received represent credits to accounts corresponding to the PINs on the phone cards being sold to the phone card client. When a phone card client purchases a large number of phone card units for re-sale or distribution, the prepayment for these phone cards to the phone card company can reach into the thousands of dollars, and represent a financial burden on the phone card client. This is especially true when the phone card client is interested in distributing phone cards free to end users for promotional purposes.
For example, assume that company A wants to advertise their products or services by placing their company logo and phone number on a phone card, wherein the phone card has a PIN that is linked to a specific account credited with ten minutes of talk time. Company A wishes to distribute these phone cards free of cost to potential customers as part of an advertising campaign. Currently, company A must prepay the phone card company for all of the phone card units being purchased for distribution. In other words, 100 phone cards good for ten minutes each means the phone card client must pay for 1000 minutes up front. Prepayment for these minutes is required even though there is a good chance that a significant number of these phone cards, along with their prepaid units, may never be used by an end user.
Therefore, a better solution is needed to minimize the financial burden on the phone card client providing phone cards to end users, and to ensure that phone card clients are charged for the phone card units received only if the corresponding phone card units are actually used by an end user.